


With Interest

by orphan_account



Category: LazyTown
Genre: Angst, Exclusion, Gen, Isolation, Self-Esteem Issues, slight stingy x trixie, slight strixie, strixie
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-29
Updated: 2017-04-29
Packaged: 2018-10-25 05:01:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10757229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Stingy deals (badly) with low self-esteem and the worst possible person for the job helps.Probably won't ever do the last chapter lol I'm too lazy. the title would've made more sense too but eh





	1. Unwelcome

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being left out is never nice (unless you're being left out from mass murder, in which case that's very nice).

 

"But why can't  _I_ be in the club?" The young boy huffed and crossed his arms impatiently, tapping his foot on the sidewalk.

"Stingy, the last time we let you in the club was for the treehouse building competition, and I think we  _all_ remember how  _that_ went." Trixie leaned out of the opening of the clubhouse, her head rested in the crook of her palm. The rest of the children were inside, Pixel and Ziggy playing tic-tac-toe with candy (which wasn't going well as Ziggy kept eating said candy) and Stephanie practicing her dancing. It had only been 5 minutes since Stingy had driven up to them in his yellow 1987 Mini Cooper and demanded to know why they hadn't included him in their games, yet it had felt like an eternity as he wouldn't stop persisting to know how they could possibly  _not_ have him in their club.

"But that was before! It won't happen again." Stingy was becoming desperate, his small hands hidden from view twitching nervously. "Please." he pleaded. The children looked up from their activities to Trixie, who quickly switched from wearing an unsure expression on her face to one of exasperation.

"No means no, Stingy. You say the same thing every time." Trixie turned her back on him and motioned to the rest of the group that they could finally resume their game. Stingy drew in a quick breath and held it, clenching his fists.

"What's going on here?" Everyone whipped around to see the blue clothed slightly-above-average hero standing beside them, an air of concern on his face.

"Stingy wants to be in our club, but every time we let him in everything goes wrong and he won't leave us alone." Trixie poked her head back out the hole. Sportacus looked down at the yellow-vested boy, who looked back up at him with a distressed look in his eyes.

"But he's your friend! You should always give people second chances!" Trixie rolled her eyes and groaned.

"We gave him his second chance! And his third, and his fourth!" The rest of the friends nodded, albeit a little unsurely.

"Sportacus, it's ok. I don't want to play anymore." A quiet voice piped up from Stingy, and everyone stared at him, uncertain if they had heard correctly. "I think I'll just go home."

"Stishy, are- are you sure?" Sportacus asked, only to receive no words in return, and instead a small nod. "Well, ok then. If that's what you want." They all watched him climb carefully into his car and drive down the road, before muttering among themselves. Trixie was starting to regret not letting him in the club, but kept her poker face, determined not to let anyone see she actually, perhaps, maybe, cared for him. The other children were not bothered by such trivial and infantile worries, and exchanged nervous looks. Sportacus stood still in thought, before bidding the children goodbye and leaving, with one dab less than usual.

"I feel really bad... Maybe we should've let him in the club." Stephanie, as expected, was the first to speak up and break the silence. 

"Yeah, Stephanie's right." added Pixel, and Ziggy nodded vigorously. 

"Are you serious? He's no fun! All he ever does is ruin our games!" Trixie protested, her hands on her hips.

"That's not fair, Trixie!" countered Stephanie, Pixel and Ziggy behind her to back her up. Trixie scoffed, and stomped up to her.

"Pinky, tell me one time Stingy hasn't been a nuisance and an inconvenience to us?" she challenged.

"Well, there was- uh... there... how about when he gave Sportacus the crystal?" replied Stephanie, set on doing Stingy justice.

"Didn't Stingy steal the crystal?" quipped Ziggy, to which Stephanie and Pixel turned to glare at him for intervening.

"All he  _ever_ does is steal and claim and moan when things don't go his way. I say we never let him play with us again." asserted Trixie, sure she had won the argument. Stephanie gasped, a look of horror on her face, before slapping Trixie with full force.

"Trixie! How  _could_ you?! He's our  _friend_ _!_ Maybe you don't care about him, but I do! I don't care how many times he takes my stuff or messes up, I'm always going to be there for him!" and with that Stephanie stormed off, her face red and tears forming at the corners of her eyes, and Pixel and Ziggy following close behind. Trixie was left alone in the clubhouse, her face frozen in shock at the slap.

Urgh, why, why, why,  _why_ had she said that?! She- she  _did_ care! She really did! So why oh why had she said those awful things? Trixie groaned and held her head in her hands, regretting everything. She did care... She cared about Stingy, with his little red bow tie and his yellow car and that half-lidded look he always had and that god damned pig he took everywhere and his stupid whiny voice and- the girl stopped herself mid thought, a searing blush spreading across her face. Trixie did not have any sort of...  _feelings_... for Stingy, or anyone for that matter. Feelings were for dummies, and Trixie Troubleby was most definitely not a dummy.


	2. Blame

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stingy handles everything badly and his friends try to help.

Stingy clutched onto his bony shins, dug his knees into his chest, and took a deep breath. A gulp got caught in his throat midway through, which led to him spluttering and finally breaking down into ugly sobs.  

_They didn't want him._

He let his head fall onto his knees and pulled them in tighter.

_And who could blame them? Who would want someone as insubstantial and worthless as him?_

Salty tears built up on his bottom lids, blurring his vision and dampening his yellow shorts.

_He was the worst._

He could hear a pathetic wail escape his throat, resonating across the room.

_Completely, unquestionably, a nuisance._

  _He was a spoiled brat who didn't care about anyone but himself and nothing more._

It really was no wonder why the other kids didn't want to play with him. He always took their things and he wouldn't even think about doing anything that wasn't the way he liked it. What was wrong with him? He wasn't just selfish, he was... obsessed. Completely obsessed with possessing things. If he saw something he hadn't claimed an unbearable feeling of envy would build up in him, and he would start to sweat and twitch and he wouldn't even be able to breath.

_Pathetic._

He  _had_ to own everything. He, Stingy thought between his gulps, was utterly self-centered and just plain  _mean._ The worst of the worst. God, he was such a-

A knock on the door anchored Stingy back to reality, his eyes fluttering up to stare red-eyed at the door. 

"Stishy? Are you there?" Sportacus. Superheroes helped people, but they couldn't fix them. The boy let himself fall to the side, and gazed absent-mindedly out the window. "Stishy, my crystal beeped and no one else in town is in trouble, so I think it must be you. Are you ok? Stishy?" So he had checked up on everyone else before him. Perhaps he had been hoping that it wasn't him in trouble, that he wouldn't have to come and solve whatever problem he had. No, scrap that, he had definitely been hoping that.

"Stishy, I'm coming in." Alerted to the fact that someone would come in and see him in the sorry state he was in, Stingy jumped up and sat against the door.

"I'm ok Sportacus! Whoever's in trouble must be someone you've missed." Stingy called out, all too aware of his croaky voice. 

"Stishy, you know you can talk to me about anything, right?" He had to stifle a snort at that. What did the overactive man think, that Stingy had a tragic childhood? Suffered through a traumatic experience? Stepped on a lego? Been forced to wear crocs in public? 

"Yes. I'm all right, Sportacus, really. Can you please go away, I have some important work to finish." 

"...All right then. Bye Stishy!" Good, thought Stingy, after hearing the telltale sound of Sportacus flippity floppity flipping away. Despite just how plain weird the blue-clothed man was, with his constant dabbing and moving, he was nice and he always made sure everyone was okay and happy, and Stingy didn't deserve that. The more time Sportacus had to spend looking out for Stingy, the more time he could be using to have fun with the other kids was wasted. Someone as wretched and self-absorbed as him wasn't worth anybody's time, never mind a superhero's.

 The sound of murmuring approaching the door warned the boy of yet another visitor. Someone else who had to sacrifice their precious time and energy for him. Stingy leaned against the door and waited for whoever it was to speak up.

"Hello? Stingy?" Oh, Stephanie. Of course. She always looked out for everyone, and she was immeasurably kind. She would even cheer up  _Robbie_ if he was feeling blue, so it wasn't much of surprise she would try and help someone like him.

"It's me, Stephanie! And Pixel and Ziggy!" Not Trixie, thought Stingy. His heart fell a bit at that thought, though he wasn't sure why. Probably because Trixie was the only one who didn't pretend that Stingy had some sort of worth.

"Hi Stingy!"

"Oh, ah, HI!" Silence ensued. Stingy wondered if they had been expecting him to answer. Maybe he could pretend he wasn't home. His throat was already sore from the few words he had exchanged with Sportacus.

"We brought you a basket of sportscandy! Um, we'll just leave it out here, ok?" Oh  _no_. Why in Lazytown would they put in effort to make a sportscandy basket for  _him_ _?_

 "Well, bye then!" What a short visit. Obviously they couldn't stand being anywhere near him.

"Bye!"

"Buh-bAYYYYEEE!" From the sound of something hitting the footpath and the sharp whispers of "Ziggy!" and "Are you okay?", Stingy guessed that Ziggy must've tripped on his own cloak and fallen (again). 

"Ow... My head..." And he was  _hurt_. He was hurt because of Stingy and because he and Pixel and Stephanie had had to come to his house. Ha. You like having things, Stingy told himself, well there you go, something else that's yours. All of this is  _your_ fault.

 And with that, he wrapped his arms around himself and started to bawl.

_What a baby._


	3. Emphatically Helping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And then she kicked the door in.

"I'm really worried about Stingy." The kids were all in the park, but for once they weren't playing. For the past five minutes, they had been shuffling around and mumbling, too unsure of what to say or do. Stephanie, as usual, was the one to speak up. "We haven't seen him in three days." 

"We should bring him another basket of sportscandy!" Ziggy yapped. Stephanie shook her head. 

"I went to his house this morning, and the basket hasn't been touched. I don't think sportscandy is going to be enough to get him back." 

"What about Sportacus? Sportacus always helps us when we're feeling blue." suggested Pixel, though he spoke in a manner that made it seem as though he didn't really believe in what he was saying.  Stephanie shook her head again and sighed. 

"Stingy won't let Sportacus in. He won't even talk to us." The pink girl paced around, chewing nervously on her fingernails. "We've tried _everything_. Everyone's tried to talk to him." 

"Well, not everyone." Stephanie looked up at Pixel and frowned. "Maybe _they_ could talk to Stingy."  

"Pixel, I'm sorry but I really don't think Robbie-" 

"What? No! I meant Trixie!" It took Stephanie a few minutes to register this, as though the thought of _Trixie_ trying to help Stingy out of whatever dark place he was stuck in was as ridiculous as a guy who looks like one of those troll toys being the American president. 

"Trixie?" The girl still couldn't believe it. 

"Trixie." confirmed Pixel. 

"You mean the one who caused this whole mess? Yeah, nice one." she sneered. Pixel gave an irritated sigh, and stood up. 

"You don't have to be so catty. Let me remind you that _none_ of us let Stingy play. We let Trixie drive him away. It's _all_ of our faults." 

"...I'm so sorry. It's just with Stingy gone and  that argument with Trixie, I- I don't know. I'm really scared that things won't ever get back to normal." Stephanie apologized, and gave Pixel a hug. He patted her back. 

"It's ok, but maybe I'm not the one you should be saying sorry to." At this Stephanie frowned, before lighting up. 

"Trixie! Oh man, I haven't spoken to her in days! And I _slapped_ her the last time I saw her! I'll go right now!" The girl rushed off in the general direction of Trixie's house, leaving Pixel and Ziggy alone in the park. 

"Are we ever going to get Stingy back?" The smaller boy asked, looking up at Pixel and tugging his sleeve. 

"I don't Ziggy. I don't know." 

* * *

 

As she walked up the ridiculously extravagant pathway to the door, Trixie wondered why she was even bothering to do this. So that Pinky'll forgive me, she told herself. It certainly, absolutely, was _not_ because she actually _did_ care. No. No way, not in a trillion years. Taking a deep breath, she kicked away a basket of sportscandy on the doorstep and knocked on the door. 

"YO STINGY COME OUT!!!" She was off to a great start. 

After some shuffling noises from inside, a near silent voice answered. 

"...Trixie...?" The pigtailed girl was taken aback by how... _croaky_ his voice was. His usual high-pitched squawks of disdain had been overwritten by something that sounded like it had been given a massage with a cheese grater and then drowned in orphan tears. 

"STI-ngy," Trixie thought it might be better if she was little more gentle for once. "I've been watching the other kids from my window and they've all been moping around like total chumps. They really want you to play with them again." 

"….Did Sportacus put you up to this...?"  

"Wow, thanks Stinge-o. You really have that little faith in me?" She exclaimed in mock offence. A small whimper- a _whimper –_ came from the other side of the door. 

"...No... In me..." Trixie kept quiet at this comment, not sure what he meant, or maybe hoping that he didn't mean what she thought he meant.

"Stingy, let me in." Silence. "Stingy." Nothing. "Nenni?" 

"...You know I hate that name..." It wasn't what she wanted, but it was something.

"Nenni Níski, Nenni Níski, Nenni Níski is so pesky. Remember that one?" Stingy had returned to his state of quietude. "Stingy, we never ever meant any of them. We were only teasing." She began to ~~worry~~ become impatient. "Stingy? Please. I want to help." Null. Zilch. Nada.

Well, Trixie thought to herself, if he wasn't going to let her in, she would. 

And then she kicked the door in.

It took her a moment to recover, but when she did, she was greeted with an unfamiliar and almost otherworldly sight. Stingy had always been haughty and conceited and above everyone else, contempt oozing over his every word, and seeing him like this just felt... fake. 

He was curled up in a tight ball by his bed, his head slightly elevated to look at Trixie. His usually perfectly groomed hair was disheveled and matted and his eyes, normally bright with wit, were red and glazed over, as if they were hollow. His lower lip had been so chewed upon it was an ugly raw, bloody red, and he had red marks around his shins, where he had been holding onto so tightly his manicured nails had dug into his skin.

"Oh my god..." Trixie could hardly stop herself from gasping in horror at the state her friend was in. " _Stingy_." The boy made a muffled sound and buried his face into his knees in shame. Trixie sat down beside him, unsure of just what to do.

"Games are no fun when you're not there, Stingy. Please, please, please come back." 

"I'll just ruin everything. You said so yourself." he murmured in response.

"No, you won't! I was wrong. Everyone misses you!" The girl punched him playfully in the arm, hoping to elevate the mood. 

"But I'm useless..." Stingy curled his fingers around the edge of his shorts, clinging onto them tensely as his hands quivered. Trixie slid her hand under his and held it, squeezing it and trying to calm him down.

"Aw, don't say that. You're not useless!" Sudden inspiration came to her. "I mean, if you were, all of your stuff would be dead or broken or someone else's." Stingy twisted his head round to look at her, a look of complete bewilderment in his eyes. 

"What do you mean?"

"Well, that's your main purpose, isn't it? Besides being an awesome friend. You have a job, and that's to take care of all of your stuff and keep it safe and keep it _yours._  Everything's relying on you. You can't possibly be worthless, if so much is sustained by you." Trixie gave him a grin. "Bleh, you even got me to say fancy uppity words. Didn't think I'd ever say 'sustained'." Stingy softly chuckled and wiped away the remainder of his tears with the cuff of his striped shirt.

"It's not a 'fancy uppity word'. You're just scared people'll know you're smart." He gave her a sly look.

"...What? Don't be ridi- stupid." 

"You did it again! You were going to say ridiculous!" Stingy called her out, sniggering.

"Was not! huffed Trixie, attempting to cross her arms before realising she was still holding Stingy's hand and turning pale pink. He blushed furiously, his little fingers still clutching onto hers.

"Um..."

"We should go and find the others!" Trixie declared, leading him out the house, sprinting out to the play park and avoiding progressing the awkward situation any further.

 


End file.
